1711696 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a national of Egypt. The applicant claimed that his religious beliefs had changed significantly, leading him to disbelieve in the Hadith and Sunnah and to follow only the Quran. He asserted that this deviation from mainstream Sunni Islam in Egypt had resulted in arguments with friends and family, threats of death, his father disowning him, and his wife's family demanding a divorce. He feared that if returned to Egypt, he would be forced to practice Sunni Islam, his wife would divorce him, he would lose custody of his daughter, and he could be killed.

The legal issues before the court were whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) as a refugee, or alternatively, under section 36(2)(aa) as a person facing significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal from Australia. The court was required to consider the applicant's well-founded fear of persecution based on his religious beliefs and the potential for him to suffer significant harm if returned to Egypt.

The court affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa. It was noted that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2)(a) of the Act, which requires a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Furthermore, the court found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2)(aa) of the Act, which relates to the complementary protection criterion concerning a real risk of significant harm. The decision implicitly determined that the applicant's circumstances did not amount to a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of significant harm as contemplated by the Act.